Gretna sues over riverfront amphitheater overpayment

The saga of Gretna's popular but costly riverfront amphitheater continues after the city sued the project's contractor to recover a $45,000 overpayment it made last year.

Susan Poag/The Times-PicayuneMusic lovers enjoy Gretna's Back to the River Concert series in this file photo. The Gretna City Council is suing a contractor to recover more than $45,000 the city paid for the facility

The city sued Belltech Group Inc. of Lafayette for $45,746, claiming it mistakenly paid the company in March 2010, according to a lawsuit filed 24th Judicial District Court by City Attorney Mark Morgan. The lawsuit claims that Gretna made a final payment on Feb. 1, 2010 for the project, which cost $915,000. On March 12, 2010, the city made another $45,746 payment to Belltech, the lawsuit said.

City officials learned of the error during its annual audit, and Mayor Ronnie Harris sought a refund. But, Belltech director Michael Bellanger said the company would review its records. The lawsuit said that despite numerous requests, Belltech owner Michael Bellard still has not returned the city's money.

Bellard could not be reached for comment.

Harris said that when Belltech submitted its final invoice, he directed that it not be paid until it could be reviewed by the project's architects, but that directive was not followed by the employee in charge of accounts payable. Consequently, the city paid the initial invoice, then paid again after the architect's approval, he said. Harris acknowledged the city's mistake, but said that it doesn't mean Belltech can keep the money.

"This certainly was a mistake, and he certainly needs to pay us back," Harris said.

Harris said he didn't learn that the city had filed suit until Thursday, but said Morgan took action before the city's right to sue expired.

Most Gretna City Council members said they were not aware the city had sued, although they were aware of the overpayment.

Councilman Vincent Cox said he was notified unofficially of the issue months ago, and was assured that the city was going to be able to recover the overpayment by working with Belltech.

"It was my understanding that it was going to be OK," Cox said.

Councilmen Milton Crosby and Wayne Rau said they were unaware of the overpayment and the lawsuit.

"I don't want to plead ignorance, but I was ignorant of this," Rau said.

Rau said the overpayment occurred while the city was converting to a new computer system used by its finance department and that may have led to some problems. That computer system conversion also led to a delay in the city's 2010 audit.

"I'm surprised that with a project that big, Belltech didn't notice they had been paid twice and send the check back," Rau said.

But Councilwoman Raylyn Beevers said the overpayment is part of a pattern in the Finance Department, adding that the council isn't sure how many mistakes have been made. Several vendors have returned checks to the city in the past year because of overpayments, she said. Beevers said city officials have told her the overpayments are due to the new system and previous financial practices, but she isn't certain that's the case.

"This should not have happened," Beevers said.

Harris said the city is reviewing all payments made by the employee who previously handled accounts payable to see how many errors occurred.

The amphitheater project was plagued by delays and change orders that caused the facility's initial $837,000 price tag to spike. Several of those change orders were due to design oversights, and the city barely completed the project before the 2009 Gretna Heritage Festival.

Last September, city officials learned they needed to spend $25,000 to $37,000 to correct problems at the site caused by flooding along the Mississippi River batture where the facility is located. Those issues are an annual problem, but city officials hope the cost will be lower depending on the river's water level, and actually only had to spend $17,000 in 2010.